1.
Galway GAA
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Galway is one of the few dual counties in Ireland, competing in a similar level in both hurling and gaelic football. The two sports are run by county boards in Galway, which is unusual, even for a dual county. Geographically the two games are quite separate in the county. Generally, football is the dominant game in Connemara, the Aran Islands, Inishbofin, North Galway, Hurling, meanwhile, is traditionally stronger in the South and East parts of Galway, with clubs such as Portumna, Ardrahan, and Gort each having multiple county titles. Galway city has teams in both codes, such as Castlegar in hurling and Salthill-Knocknacarra in football. There are exceptions to this rule of thumb, with hurling pockets in football areas, also, some parish clubs have fielded senior teams in hurling and football in the same season, such as Ballinasloe, Monivea Abbeyknockmoy and Moycullen. Galway GAA has jurisdiction over the area of the county of Galway. Galway GAA forms a part of the branch, Connacht GAA. Unlike other counties in Ireland, Gaelic games in Galway are run by two separate county boards, Gaelic football is organised by the Galway football board and hurling is organised by the Galway hurling board. The boards in Galway also organise the county championships in football and hurling for the clubs of Galway Galways traditional colours are maroon. In the early years of GAA competition, Galway teams wore the colours of the county champions in each sport, in 1936, however, the county adopted maroon as its primary colour. A crest was added to the jersey in the 1950s, with different crests coming into use for each sport, although the teams most often wear white shorts and maroon socks, the teams have also worn all maroon kits in the past. Until 2013, the football and hurling boards of Galway both used their own separate county crests for their teams, the teams began using the same jerseys and crest in 2013, ahead of that years Football and Hurling National Leagues. This new crest was, for the most part, the same as the hurling crest with the most notable differences being the angle of the boat, the first sponsor of any Galway team was Tommy Vardens Catering service, in the mid to late 1980s. Sponsorship wasnt as open in the GAA at the time, Tommy Varden sponsorship of the footballers was followed by the Supermacs fast food chain sponsoring the hurlers. In 2008, Tommy Varden ended the 25-year association with Galway football, after entering receivership, however, Aer Arann were forced to pull out of the sponsorship two years early, having sponsored the team in the 2008,2009 and 2010 seasons. In 2011, it was announced that the jersey would carry the logo of Cancer Care West. This made Galway the first GAA team to display the name of a charity on their county jersey rather than a corporate sponsor

2.
Kilkenny GAA
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The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams in all codes at all levels. The Kilkenny branch of the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in 1887, Brian Cody has been manager of the Kilkenny senior hurling team since the 1999 championship. Mark Bergin will be senior hurling captain for the 2017 season, in 1922 Kilkenny won their sixteenth Leinster title before later lining out in the All-Ireland final against Tipperary. In an exciting game Tipperary were winning by three points with three minutes to go, but Kilkenny fought back to two goals to secure the victory. It would be years before Kilkenny would beat Tipperary in the championship again. Further Leinster titles soon followed, however, Galway accounted for ‘the Cats’ in the All-Ireland semi-finals, in 1926 Kilkenny faced Cork on a snow-covered Croke Park in the All-Ireland final, however, victory on that occasion went to ‘the Rebels’. The 1930s proved to be one of Kilkenny’s most successful decades, the 1930s saw ‘the Cats’ battle it out with Limerick for the title of team of the decade. In 1931 Kilkenny were back as Leinster champions before squaring up to Cork in the All-Ireland final, at half-time Cork lead, however, Kilkenny fought back to secure a draw. The replay saw Lory Meagher give one of his most outstanding displays on the hurling field, once again Cork lead at half-time, however, Kilkenny fought back to force a second draw. In the third game of the thrilling series Kilkenny were without the services of Meagher. On that occasion Cork secured the victory by seven points,1932 saw Kilkenny back in the All-Ireland final. Clare, surprise winners in Munster, provided the opposition, in an exciting game ‘the Cats’ won by a goal and claimed their first championship in a decade. The following year Kilkenny were back in their third championship decider. Once again, the game was an affair, however. In 1935 Kilkenny regained their Leinster crown before lining out in the All-Ireland final, Limerick provided the opposition once again. In a close game Kilkenny beat the Munster men by a single point,1936 saw an All-Ireland rematch between Kilkenny and Limerick, however, on this occasion Limerick had the measure of ‘the Cats’ and trounced them by 5–6 to 1–5. The following year Kilkenny had a chance to redeem themselves in their third championship decider

3.
Croke Park
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Croke Park is a GAA stadium located in Dublin, Ireland. Named in honour of Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is often called Croker by some GAA fans and it serves both as the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association. Since 1884 the site has been used primarily by the GAA to host Gaelic games, most notably the annual All-Ireland finals in football and hurling. Both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2003 Special Olympics, during the construction of the Aviva Stadium, Croke Park hosted games played by the Ireland national rugby union team and the Republic of Ireland national football team. The area now known as Croke Park was owned in the 1880s by Maurice Butterly and known as the City and Suburban Racecourse, from 1890 it was also used by the Bohemian Football Club. In 1901 Jones Road hosted the IFA Cup football final when Cliftonville defeated Freebooters, recognising the potential of the Jones Road sports ground a journalist and GAA member, Frank Dineen, borrowed much of the £3,250 asking price and bought the ground in 1908. In 1913 the GAA came into ownership of the plot when they purchased it from Dineen for £3,500. The ground was then renamed Croke Park in honour of Archbishop Thomas Croke, in 1913, Croke Park had only two stands on what is now known as the Hogan stand side and grassy banks all round. In 1917, a hill was constructed on the railway end of Croke Park to afford patrons a better view of the pitch. This terrace was known as Hill 16 as it was built from the ruins of the 1916 Easter Rising, in the 1920s, the GAA set out to create a high capacity stadium at Croke Park. Following the Hogan Stand, the Cusack Stand, named after Michael Cusack from Clare, was built in 1927,1936 saw the first double-deck Cusack Stand open with 5,000 seats, and concrete terracing being constructed on Hill 16. In 1952 the Nally Stand was built in memorial of Pat Nally, seven years later, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the GAA, the first cantilevered New Hogan Stand was opened. The highest attendance recorded at an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was 90,556 for Offaly v Down in 1961. Since the introduction of seating to the Cusack stand in 1966, during the Irish War of Independence on 21 November 1920 Croke Park was the scene of a massacre by the Royal Irish Constabulary. The Police, supported by the British Auxiliary Division entered the ground, the dead included 13 spectators and Tipperary player, Michael Hogan. Posthumously, the Hogan stand built in 1924 was named in his honour, in 1984 the organisation decided to investigate ways to increase the capacity of the old stadium. The design for an 80,000 capacity stadium was completed in 1991, Gaelic sports have special requirements as they take place on a large field. A specific requirement was to ensure the spectators were not too far from the field of play and this resulted in the three-tier design from which viewing games is possible, the main concourse, a premium level incorporating hospitality facilities and an upper concourse

4.
Dublin
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Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Dublin is in the province of Leinster on Irelands east coast, the city has an urban area population of 1,345,402. The population of the Greater Dublin Area, as of 2016, was 1,904,806 people, founded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin became Irelands principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800, following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland. Dublin is administered by a City Council, the city is listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha-, which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world. It is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration, economy, the name Dublin comes from the Irish word Dubhlinn, early Classical Irish Dubhlind/Duibhlind, dubh /d̪uβ/, alt. /d̪uw/, alt /d̪u, / meaning black, dark, and lind /lʲiɲ pool and this tidal pool was located where the River Poddle entered the Liffey, on the site of the castle gardens at the rear of Dublin Castle. In Modern Irish the name is Duibhlinn, and Irish rhymes from Dublin County show that in Dublin Leinster Irish it was pronounced Duílinn /d̪ˠi, other localities in Ireland also bear the name Duibhlinn, variously anglicized as Devlin, Divlin and Difflin. Historically, scribes using the Gaelic script wrote bh with a dot over the b and those without knowledge of Irish omitted the dot, spelling the name as Dublin. Variations on the name are found in traditionally Irish-speaking areas of Scotland, such as An Linne Dhubh. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. Baile Átha Cliath, meaning town of the ford, is the common name for the city in modern Irish. Áth Cliath is a name referring to a fording point of the River Liffey near Father Mathew Bridge. Baile Átha Cliath was an early Christian monastery, believed to have been in the area of Aungier Street, there are other towns of the same name, such as Àth Cliath in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which is Anglicised as Hurlford. Although the area of Dublin Bay has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times and he called the settlement Eblana polis. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. The subsequent Scandinavian settlement centred on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey in an area now known as Wood Quay, the Dubhlinn was a small lake used to moor ships, the Poddle connected the lake with the Liffey. This lake was covered during the early 18th century as the city grew, the Dubhlinn lay where the Castle Garden is now located, opposite the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle

5.
Referee (association football)
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In association football, the referee is the person responsible for enforcing the Laws of the Game during the course of a match. At higher levels of play the referee may also be assisted by an official who supervises the teams technical areas. Referees remuneration for their services varies between leagues, Referees are licensed and trained by the same national organisations that are members of FIFA. Each national organisation recommends its top officials to FIFA to have the honour of being included on the FIFA International Referees List. International games between national teams require FIFA officials, otherwise, the local national organisation determines the manner of training, ranking and advancement of officials from the youngest youth games through professional matches. The referees powers and duties are described by Law 5 of the Laws of the Game, as per Law 9 of the game, if during the game the ball hits the referee there is no stoppage in play. However the officials would be expected to position themselves such that this would be unlikely to occur. Modern day referees and their assistants wear a uniform consisting of a jersey, badge, shorts and socks, since then, most referees have worn either yellow or black, but the colours and styles adopted by individual associations vary greatly. For international contests under the supervision of FIFA, Adidas uniforms are worn because Adidas is the current sponsor, FIFA allows referees to wear five colours, black, red, yellow, green and blue. Along with the jersey, referees are required to wear shorts, black socks. The badge, which displays the referees license level and year of validity, is affixed to the left chest pocket. All referees carry a whistle, a watch, penalty cards, a wallet with pen and paper. Most are encouraged to have more than one of each on them in case they drop a whistle or a pen runs out, often, referees utilize two watches so that they can use one to calculate time lost for stoppages for the purposes of added time. In matches with goal-line technology, the referee will have on their person a device to receive the systems alerts, Referees use a whistle to help in match control. The whistle is sometimes needed to stop, start or restart play but should not be used for all stoppages, fIFAs Laws of the Game document gives guidance as to when the whistle should and should not be used. Overuse of the whistle is discouraged since, as stated in the Laws, the whistle is an important tool for the referee along with verbal, body and eye communication. Before the introduction of the whistle, referees indicated their decisions by waving a white handkerchief, the whistles that were first adopted by referees were made by Joseph Hudson at Mills Munitions in Birmingham, England. The Acme Whistle Company first began to mass-produce pea whistles in the 1870s for the Metropolitan Police Force, Referees in football are first described by Richard Mulcaster in 1581

6.
Limerick GAA
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The Limerick County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Limerick GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Limerick. The county board is responsible for the Limerick inter-county teams. Several books tell the story of Limerick GAA Limerick has a long, in 1897, its first outright success was achieved in hurling when a Kilfinane side defeated Tullaroan of Kilkenny in the final. The county team won the All-Ireland in 1918, a feat repeated in 1921 when they won the inaugural Liam MacCarthy Cup. The sides that achieved those wins contained many players who were on Limerick teams that contested seven Munster finals in a row, the 1930s were the salad days of Limerick hurling, an era in which the county won five National Leagues in a row, a record still unequalled. They also won four Munster Championships in a row, and remain the only county other than Cork to have done so, after winning All-Irelands in 1934 and 1936, another outright success was achieved in 1940. Victory in 1940 left Limerick, with six All-Irelands, as the county outside of the big three, to have won more than one All-Ireland hurling title. Dublin had also six All Ireland Senior Hurling at that time, the county then fell on quieter times and has won only one Senior All Ireland title, in 1973. However six National Leagues were won between 1947 and 1995, and three Under-21 All Irelands in a row in the early 2000s. In 2007 Limerick beat Tipperary in a thrilling Munster Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final which is now known as the Trilogy, the final score line of the 2nd replay was 0.22 to 2.13. 30,608 fans witnessed this now historic occasion as Limerick had not beaten Tipperary since 1996, however, Limerick subsequently lost the Munster Final to Waterford on 8 July in Thurles. They regrouped and beat Clare in the All-Ireland Quarter-Final on 29 July, Andrew OShaughnessy picked up the Man of the Match award in this match. On 12 August, they played Waterford in the Semi-Final, a rematch of the Munster Final a month previously. Fortunately for Limerick though, the result was not to be the same, a scoreline of 5,11 -2,15 was enough to defeat the Deise Men. The goals came from Donie Ryan, Andrew OShaughnessy and Brian Begley, O Shaughnessy once again picked up the MotM award for his fine display. On 2 September 2007 in Croke Park, Limerick played in the All-Ireland Hurling Final, lady Luck did not strike twice however and it was to be Kilkennys day. Final score, Kilkenny 2-19 - 1-15 Limerick, in 2008, with many predicting that Limerick would secure Munster and All-Ireland titles, the county was drawn against Clare in the first round of the championship. Clare defeated them on a score-line of 4-12 to 1-16 and this meant that Limerick were now entered in a newly revised All-Ireland qualifying system against Offaly

7.
1986 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final
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The final was contested by Cork of Munster and Galway of Connacht, with Cork winning by 4-13 to 2-15. Cork were rank outsiders coming into the game as Galway had used the tactic of a two-man full-forward line to dispose of Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final. Galway deployed this tactic again in the final, however. When Galway realised that this failed to pay any dividends they resorted back to the orthodox formation. Cork, in spite of playing against he wind, had a blistering first quarter, a goal from a twenty-yard John Fenton free after just eight minutes was quickly followed by a second from Kevin Hennessy. Galway rallied strongly in the quarter, leaving Cork just 2-5 to 0-10 ahead at the interval. Galway introduced P. J. Molloy and Michael Connolly to their attack for the half as Cork lost John Fenton to an ankle injury. Of all the goals it was Tomás Mulcahy who scored the most spectacular of the day, after collecting a puck-out from Ger Cunningham he ran fifty metres before rifling the sliotar to the back of the Galway net. Galways first goal didnt come until eight minutes from the end as goalkeeper John Commins sent a free to the net. That goal came too late as Kevin Hennessy had bagged his second just before that, P. J. Molloy got Galways second goal a minute from time, however, it was too little too late. Fittingly, it was Jimmy Barry-Murphy, playing in his last game, Corks All-Ireland victory was their first since 1984. The win gave them their 26th All-Ireland title over all and bolstered their position as leaders on the all-time roll of honour. Similarly, Cork preserved their record of having never beaten by Galway in an All-Ireland final. Galways All-Ireland defeat was their 13th over all and it was their second in succession and their third since their last All-Ireland final victory in 1980. It was Galways fourth All-Ireland final defeat by Cork in an All-Ireland final